DETROIT (WWJ) -- There are indications that the UAW could be close to a deal with one of the Detroit Three automakers.
The Associated Press is reporting that union leaders and Ford are closing in on a deal that would include a 25% pay hike, as well as cost of living increases, and an undisclosed agreement on pension and job security.
In previous offers, Ford, Stellantis and General Motors had all offered 23% pay increases.
"Now, there are not guarantees that things wouldn't be derailed, but if a deal can be worked out at Ford, the union would likely use that to try to set a pattern at GM and Stellantis," WWJ Auto Beat Reporter Jeff Gilbert said.
A spokesman for Ford told Gilbert, Wednesday afternoon, that he had no information about a pending deal, but that he was looking into the AP report.
The UAW, meanwhile, said it is not commenting on the AP story at this time.
This comes after workers at Stellantis' Sterling Heights Assembly Plant and General Motors' Arlington Truck Plant in Texas joined the strike over the past two days.
Gilbert noted that there are still a number of plants that have workers on the job, including the Jefferson North Plant on Detroit's east side, the Ford Rouge complex in Dearborn, where pickups are made, and the GM Truck plant in Flint.
In a live interview, WWJ's Tracey McCaskill asked Auto Analyst John McElroy if he was surprised by word of such a deal in the works.
"Pleasantly surprised, absolutely. I think this is good news. It's great to hear that they're making this kind of progress," said McElroy. "Maybe not surprised from this one standpoint: The UAW has now shut down the most profitable assembly plants at GM, Ford and Stellantis."
"And so that was sort of like for me, the last shoe to drop," McElroy said. "Shawn Fain (UAW President) had to be able to go back to his base and say, 'See? I took them to the mat. I shut down their most profitable plants.' Because if he did not do that, there would be people in the union who would have said, 'Hey, look, you could have gotten even more if you had taken those plants down.' So, I've been hoping all along that once those three truck plants went down, this was a sign that we were getting close to the beginning of the end of the strike."
McElroy said he's not surprised to hear that the UAW leadership could settle for a much smaller pay hike than they initally requested.
"Hey, you know, why not ask for the moon? You know, you're not going to get it. But if you ask for something smaller, you're gonna get something smaller," he said.
McElroy added that, even once a day is reached, he would expect striking autoworkers to stay off the job until it is ratified. That, he said, would take at least week.
Currently, there are more than 45,000 UAW workers on strike across the U.S., as we approach week six of the targeted strikes, that began Sept. 15.
As of Monday, the Anderson Economic Group put the cost of the strike at 9.3 billion.
